Making memories is a holiday tradition

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As we continue to forge forward, there a feeling in the air in my hometown and region that is very positive.

Despite anything that may be hyped up in the social media or on the news, folks are doing their very best to create a holiday season for their children and families that uplifts and goes beyond what those in power may want us focusing upon.

It is in times like these that I fondly look back upon the memories my parents created for me as a youth. The dinners, the parties, our traditions of decorating for Christmas and how we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas, all imprinted into my brain joys that still yield dividends in my heart.

Standing with my father, holding the end of a string of lights as we tried to discover the broken bulb before hanging those outside our home, remains a colorful moment in my memory.

We always finished it by hanging the large lighted face of Santa in the holly trellis by our door.

I can remember my mother shopped for weeks, picking up the items she needed to make her holiday meals a success. Extra was needed for guests and the additional food choices added to the monthly budget. But she would spread the purchases out over several weeks, to make it fit into the budget. An item here, and item there, especially while using coupons to make the deals even more affordable.

Holidays always meant family and friends visiting or us going to visit with them. Games, music, and lots of talk always combined into what we all saw as memories that we share in our hearts.

Today, it is a little hard to overlook the high costs associated with the expense of normalcy.

During Halloween, the cost of giving out candy was outrageous compared to previous years.

Now we are moving towards Thanksgiving. As we look around us, there are many great opportunities to find things to be thankful about. Despite the best efforts of those who may wish to infuse the political landscape into how we should conduct our holidays, I say “poppycock.” And for those who are not familiar with that word it means: nonsense or senseless talk.

I keep hearing via social media how some are uninviting friends and relatives to holiday events. Well, if that’s how you carry on your life, all I can say is you need a healing helping of the Holy Ghost. Nothing is more important than you relationships with family and tried and true friends of a lifetime.

Politics come and go, and despite philosophies, family and friends must overcome being on different sides of a vote.

We are all better than petty arguments over national trends that we have very little impact upon.

For an analogy, we all are passengers on the ship of state and we must find a way to live our lives, no matter which way it turns.

I see my neighbors already putting up their Christmas lights and shopping in the grocery stores for their holiday meals.

I am sure we will see many gather in their homes, sit around the table, take in a movie at a theater, watch some football on the big screen TV, go to the Christmas parade, and gather for holiday parties.

We have a life to share with those we love. Though sometimes we must forge different paths over things that happen in life, politics is not one of those things that merit such. Build the memories that you and your children will look to cherish decades from now when all the nonsense is forgotten.

Finding Peace

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Life can be hard for every single person who has ever walked the earth.

We must all work in some way each and every day to provide for ourselves and those we love.

Today, most folks do this to get money to buy what is needed.

In the past, our ancestors, awoke to the reality each day they had to till the land, plant, cultivate, hunt or fish to fill their bellies and their stores for the year.

Food, shelter and clothing are the primary needs each of us have. Many children today are sheltered from this reality by their parents as they try to create a period of innocence as they grow.

In my parents’ generation, from the time they were walking, they were working in the fields to sustain the rest of the family. For me and my brother, we had it easier as the work shifted to home and the family business rather than the fields which was the family business in my grandparents’ day. Although we did do our share on the farm too as we were taught what we needed to do to survive but our eating did not solely depend on what we were doing.

Our world is in a moment when people are looking closely at their bottom line. They are making choices that the believe will improve their pocketbooks today and into the future.

You may not have to worry about where your next meal comes from. You may work for the government at some level, the school system or have a job you feel is very secure because the industry you work in seems secure.

There are many who cannot say that, they know where their next meal is coming from. I come from a family where that is the case. There were times my folks did without to try to provide for us and the same is true for many in my extended family.

We are at a point in our country when people are looking at elected people spending their tax dollars overseas, within our country on people who came here circumventing our laws, or for feel good projects rather than necessities and they are done watching quietly in the corner.

I think that is what we saw at the ballot box recently. Americans are tired of everything that goes against their personal budget, their livelihood and the success of their families. They have felt helpless as they watched things they cherish being destroyed in various ways.

These feelings have been tapped into by leaders throughout the world’s history. It is an opportunity to reset the direction we are going and pull us back from the brink of disaster.

A country cannot sustain the deficit spending and continued borrowing from future generations.

It must stop. It will not be easy and many will face hardships as the belts begin to tighten.

However for all our futures, it must be done. It needs to be done while there is a possibility of lessening the impact overall. Otherwise, we will find ourselves walking the rubble of our lives in rags for clothes grubbing for roots to try to put in the water for soup to live another day. That may be extreme in your mind, but we are only 90 years ahead of millions in our country living that exact same life. It is very possible we might see it again. Such happenings are cyclical and we are very close to the time in those cycles, it could happen. But maybe, just maybe, we can be pulled back from falling off the cliff or at least a few feather pillows might be thrown at the bottom of the precipice to ease our fall.

Many in our country are elated by what is ahead with new administration coming in January while others are not. So much of our focus by those that are not is being forced onto concerns of feeling by people on social media. When the house is on fire, you have to put the fire out before you worry about how folks are feeling. We are in the house on fire stage and it may be there for the next few years as we watch these serious issues be handled one by one.

Based on what I saw in the last Trump administration, the swiftness when not impeded in the efforts was amazingly quick. So, I think we will see progress for the American people and our future very quickly. We are already seeing much positive momentum just since the election.

There will be many happy times along the way as we see individual wins and successes. Cherish those and smile every day because smiles are infectious. Have faith because God is with us always. Through all things He strengthens me.

Legendary American singer Earle Wheeler is called home

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So as best I recall, it was 1984 at Raccoon Creek Bluegrass Festival in Dallas, Ga., I took it into my head that the Marksmen Quartet needed a fiddle player, so I crawled up on stage fiddle in hand from the audience and joined in. I was surprised Earle Wheeler didn’t kick me right back off.

Already a legendary American music singer Dr. Earle Wheeler, of Murrayville, Ga. whose appearances on “The Gospel Singing Jubilee,” J.G. Whitfield’s “All Nite Sings,” and “The Warren Roberts Show” greatly impacted Southern gospel and now he was making strides in bluegrass music. He would go on to add country music as another musical genre among his conquests.

Dr. Earle Wheeler (Marksmen Media: Leslie Laurendeau Abby-J Photography)

He contributed over 500 career recordings to American music and amassed over 20 career award wins across the three musical genres plus three Dove Award nominations for “God’s Masterpiece” and “Blue Ridge Mountain Memories” and “This My Crowd” in 2008, 2010, and 2013. He attained numerous chart songs including several #1 songs, some of those were “Sound the Battle Cry,” “He’s Still Setting My Place at The Table,” “Potter’s Wheel,” and “Preach the Cross.”

Earle left this world doing what he loved while on tour in Texas at the age of 84, (1940- 2024). An accidental fall caused a broken second vertebra requiring his hospitalization prior to his passing from heart failure on Oct. 31.

Earle had led the Hall of Fame and multiple-award–winning Marksmen Quartet since 1967, a re-branding from his group The Gospel Hearts that he began in 1961.

My intervening in their performance 40 years ago, began friendships and musical collaborations that remain to this day.

My early years in music, I spent countless nights in their home. I slept in a bunk pulled out from under guitarist and vocalist Mark Wheeler’s bed when we were youth. Mark is Earle’s only son and a mainstay of the quartet. I ate many meals prepared by his wife Shirley at their dining room table.

When I graduated, Earle helped me get my first record company job. Of course, they would soon sign with that label and I promoted their music. While there I played on my first chart record for Earle “Meet Me in Heaven” which featured a fiddle solo in it.

That was one of a long list of chart songs in the three genres Earle would bring to music fans.

I stood on stage beside Earle for many years watching him move an audience with his master level skills of emceeing a show. His performances often brought explosive response from audiences was when he led “Get Away Jordan” and “I Want to Go There.” I saw long-time stars express their frustrations to follow Earle on stage because he would wear out an audience through his ability to move them emotionally.

The Marksmen joined me in my performance for the Grand Ole Opry’s 63rd Birthday Celebration in 1987 electrifying the audience. Within a year, they were included in a performance for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Legends of Bluegrass Concert in 1988 alongside Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Jim and Jesse, The Lewis Family, and the Osborne Brothers. Their efforts garnered them nine Gospel Bluegrass Band of the Year Awards once such an award was created.

I was honored to be there for many of those great achievements with Earle and appear with them on shows such as “The Huff Cook Gospel Sing” from Bristol, Va.

Beginning in 1988, I joined the cast of “In the Heat of the Night,” and when the opportunity arose, I included Earle and the group to sing on “In the Heat of the Night” “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” CD with Anne-Marie Johnson and featured them with Carroll O’Connor, the cast and country hall of famers.

In later years, when ever I appeared Earle used to joke I left the Marksmen because Carroll O’Connor paid me more than he did.

His acceptance in bluegrass also yielded his transition and acceptance into the country genre performing side by side with that genre’s biggest stars. Still performing in the same fashion, just finding new audiences for four voices and their unique songs. The group would win Five Country Gospel Group of the Year Awards. They won Two Country Music Video Awards for “Grandpa Was a Farmer” and “Wagon Tracks.”

From our first concert to raise funds for the Pearl and Floyd Franks Appalachian Music Scholarships for the Share America Foundation, Inc., Earle and the Marksmen Quartet were there and made our efforts a success each year joining us for the last time in 2023 on the Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree.

Earle and his wife Shirley were an extra set of parents who have checked in on me throughout my life. Earle was there supporting me when I lost both my dad and mom. He is survived by his wife Shirley, his son Mark (Joy), and his grandchildren Will, Sarah Grace, and Cana and current and former members of The Marksmen Quartet.

Rest in Peace Earle… Well done good and faithful servant!

                            The Marksmen – 1987

 

Finding independence in music

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Music begins within each of our souls. If we are lucky, God bestows us the gifts to let it out.

Some sing, some play, some do both and their gifts bless their families, their church, their neighbors.

For many years now, the advent of the internet has broken down the hold gatekeepers had on reaching the mass audience. Now folks can sit in their living rooms with a camera, make music and people from around the world can find the, like them and buy their music.

Of course, the old fashion approach, town to town, church to church, club to club still helps build an audience too. Now, stars can come out of nowhere.

I was recently in attendance for an independent music awards called the 10th Annual Josie Music Awards.For 10 years, these have grown and expanded recognizing artists in country, Americana, bluegrass, folk, R & B, Rock and Roll, World Music and other forms. This was my second time to attend and both times I have taken it in as an artist who was nominated in categories in the awards. For me, it was Inspirational Vocalist and Musician of the Year – Fiddle. I have been so honored the last couple of years by their recognition of my musical efforts.

The Josie Awards are coordinated by Josie Passantino-Boone and Tinamarie Passantino. Beginning small it has grown to now be held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. Folks travel from all over the U.S. and Canada and even foreign countries to attend the events surrounding the awards.

When I started in country music, we had a grassroots system operated by fan clubs that allowed artists to grow their followings and climb the ladder in a way. That has been replaced by largely by social media and followers.

While attending I met artists from around the country, many who have been growing and building their careers for years and some just starting but they all were standing side-by-side as award nominees, dressed in their finest, posing for photos, interviewing with media trying to expand their audiences.

In this award show, new and seasoned artists saw long-time artists, multi-million sellers, many hits in varying genres come across the stage and be honored and also perform. This year, they joined Neil McCoy (Lifetime Achievement Award Winner), Tiffany (Icon Award Winner), and John McCuen (Musician Lifetime Achievement Award Winner), and Randy Edelman (Songwriter Legend Award Winner), Doug Stone was also a presenter as were some recent music stars created by American Idol and similar shows.

I was so impressed by the artists I saw walk across the stage. They came from many backgrounds and regions. Their looks, musical talents and fashion choices varied. Their acceptance speeches were heartwarming and a dominant overall theme was faith in God and the revelation that He bestowed their talents and salvation. It was so refreshing!

As I sat towards the back of the auditorium watching folks, I realized the hosts called my name from the stage, so I made my way to the stage, climbed up the stairs on stage and awaited the other winners in the Musician of the Year categories.

We then each got to walk center stage and stand on the Circle. A section of floor taken from the Ryman where the Grand Ole Opry called home for so many years. As a Grand Ole Opry guest star, I had stood there before, so the experience was not new to me, but still highly revered by me.

“Forty years ago, Bill Monroe brought me here as an artist,” I said.

I thanked some of the fiddlers who influenced me like Howdy Forrester and Kenny Baker, Tommy Jackson, Chubby Wise, and Paul Warren who inspired me to want to be better at fiddling. Also my early Georgia fiddling influences – my Great Uncle Tom Franks who learned from my Great Grandfather A.J. Harve Franks, Dr. Donald Grisier, Dallas Burrell, Gordon Tanner, Eugene Akers and so many others.

I thanked my late parents Pearl and Floyd Franks, and God above for the honor. I also attributes all that has come to my mentors Grand Ole Opry stars Jim & Jesse McReynolds.

All in all, I can probably sum up the sentiments of the winners and the nominees and their families and friends who attended. It was such wonderful night, everyone walking the red carpet, sharing interviews with media folks and meeting other music artists from around the world. New friends made, old friends renewed and our musical toils recognized.

For those interested in my work as 2024 Musician of the Year – Fiddle, my latest single is the fiddle-backed patriotic film monologue “The American’s Creed – Recitation” and brand new on Nov. 1 is the historical fiddle single “Cotton-Eyed Joe” performed live with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys raising funds for the Pearl and Floyd Franks Appalachian Music Scholarships. Both available on ITunes and Amazon.

Learn more about the Josie Music Awards at https://www.josiemusicawards.com/.